Baker's Dozen is a 2D pixel platformer with a delicious twist on the "save the princess" trope. Explore the cookie land above and below ground, battle corrupted cookie creatures using your baking tools, craft tasty treats to power you through to the next checkpoint, and fight off her captor to save the Cookie Princess.
SUMMARY
DETAILS
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 6
Development Time: 4 months
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 6
Development Time: 4 months
DESIGNER, PRODUCER
DESIGNER
- Designed level, weapon, and enemy style and mechanics to align with central cookie theme
- Created three enemies with progressive difficulty and a boss encounter for the level's end
- Used Microsoft Excel to display and calculate balanced stats for in-game variables
PRODUCER
- Broke down goals into five sprints
- Created task lists for each team member by priority
DESIGN PROCESS
ECONOMY SPREADSHEETS
I made spreadsheets in Google Sheets to get an overview and compare and contrast elements in each of the game's systems. I used multiple pages to keep track of all facets of the combat and crafting system.
The screenshots below are from the pages that proved the most useful. Crossed out items didn't make it into the game. The tan color represented the Cookie Level with the intention that the game would have multiple levels and I could color code the entities of each.
The screenshots below are from the pages that proved the most useful. Crossed out items didn't make it into the game. The tan color represented the Cookie Level with the intention that the game would have multiple levels and I could color code the entities of each.
Enemy statistics and behavior. The "Threat" variable is calculated using the estimated time it takes the player to kill the enemy compared to the time it would take for the enemy to kill the player.
Ingredient drops by enemy.
Crafting recipes and uses.
COMBAT SYSTEM DESIGN
ENEMIES
I designed the enemies with several mechanical goals and one big thematic goal:
The enemies aren't just made of cookie, they are cookies.
It was important to me to build the style and enemy behavior off of real-life cookie types. Instead of reskinning your classic zombie enemy to now be a "chocolate chip cookie zombie", I carefully chose each enemy's cookie to be a sort of pun of the cookie itself, and provide the ingredients necessary for the recipes we needed mechanically.
First I designed the enemy with its style and mechanical behavior, then I'd work closely with the pixel artist to create sprites that matched the design, and finally with those two elements the programmer would implement the enemy into the game.
Below are comparisons of each enemy to their cookies.
The enemies aren't just made of cookie, they are cookies.
It was important to me to build the style and enemy behavior off of real-life cookie types. Instead of reskinning your classic zombie enemy to now be a "chocolate chip cookie zombie", I carefully chose each enemy's cookie to be a sort of pun of the cookie itself, and provide the ingredients necessary for the recipes we needed mechanically.
First I designed the enemy with its style and mechanical behavior, then I'd work closely with the pixel artist to create sprites that matched the design, and finally with those two elements the programmer would implement the enemy into the game.
Below are comparisons of each enemy to their cookies.
Turtle
A "Turtle Cookie" is the name of this delicious treat commonly made for Christmas time, named for the halved pecan on top that looks like a turtle shell.
The turtle became our basic melee enemy, its armored shell effective at defending attacks.
Monster
These M&M cookies are also called "Monster Cookies." Sometimes people put little eyes on them!
The cookie with the eyes on it looks like a blob creature, so that is what the monster enemy became. It provides an extra challenge with ranged attacks, but is stationary to the floor like it grew out of the land.
Snickerdoodle
I decided on the Snickerdoodle cookie for our third enemy. The Snickerdoodle would be like a hyena--from "doodle" like the type of dog, and a hyena is sort of a "snicker dog". Our landscape was also themed after a desert since cookies are usually dry and crumbly, so a hyena-like creature fit perfectly for that environment.
The Snickerdoodle needed to be our most difficult enemy before the boss fight, with different behavior than a basic melee and a basic ranged enemy. I decided that the enemy could detect the player coming and jump down on them from a high place, like hyenas waiting on a cliff to pounce. They also can traverse multiple platforms, while the other enemies are restricted to their starting platforms. The Snickerdoodle also does the most damage and has the most health of any enemy.
Cookie Jar (Boss Battle)
It was difficult to find a cookie that fit the above criteria while also making sense to be more powerful than others in a boss battle. So instead, I chose the boss to be a whole cookie jar! Animal cookies fit well as cookie creatures that could come to life.
The cookie jar is the boss, but the player battles the individual animal cookies. The jar spits cookies out in waves onto the various platforms in the boss battle area, and the player has to traverse the platforms and attack the cookies in order to damage the jar. The battle ends when the jar runs out of cookies.
WEAPONS
The weapons serve as a reward of progression and exploration for the player. The Rolling Pin and Beaters were designed to be relatively equal fitting different players' personal preference. The addition of the ranged attack allows for more defense and strategy against enemies.
ROLLING PIN
The starting weapon, a basic melee attack.
The starting weapon, a basic melee attack.
BEATERS
The player dual-wields beaters for a faster but less damaging attack with each hit.
The player dual-wields beaters for a faster but less damaging attack with each hit.
COOKIE CUTTERS
A ranged attack that spins out horizontally from the player.
A ranged attack that spins out horizontally from the player.
CRAFTING SYSTEM DESIGN
RECIPES
The recipe list and the enemy drops informed each other. Each enemy had natural ingredient drops from the cookie they were based on, and some recipe ideas came first that I needed to design drops for.
CANDIED NUTS
A small health boost.
A small health boost.
CHOCOLATE SWEET ROLL
A larger health boost.
A larger health boost.
SUGAR RUSH
A burst of speed for a short time.
A burst of speed for a short time.
CRAFTING
Players needed to reach a baking station in order to craft these items. There were three baking stations placed in the level.
CRAFTING STATION
CRAFTING MENU
Each crafting recipe combined four ingredient slots. Players could check their recipe book to view the crafting recipes for each item.
The player's inventory would track all of the ingredients they collected on their journey, but players were unable to check their inventory outside of crafting. It wasn't necessary when not near a baking station to make use of those items, so I decided an extra menu and key binding for inventory would be redundant.